THE CULTIVATOR. 
105 
such as that described by the general, it is worked by a pair of horses, and 
sometimes more, instead of one. 
He conceived that the grand source of all the heavy expenses of the 
old method might be traced'to the fallow itself, and to the mode of pre¬ 
paring it—“ by bringing up immense slags with the plough, by reversing 
the soil, and thus burying the seeds of weeds that had fallen on the sur¬ 
face, by which a foundation is| laid for all the subsequent laborious and 
expensive operations.” To avoid these, he therefore thought it necessary 
to proceed in a different manner—“ to only break and crumble the sur¬ 
face soil, to any depth that may be required; to burn and deslroy the 
weeds; after which he would have the land in a fine and clean state of 
pulverization, and in readiness for receiving the seed, without losing a 
year’s rent and taxes; and all this at a mere' trifle of expense, when com 
pared with that which is incurred by a fallow.” 
In pursuance of this, he reduced the ploughing to a single operation at 
the depth of four inches. The chief use, indeed, which he made of the 
plough’was to open furrows at twenty-seven inches apart, which was per¬ 
formed by a couple of horses at the rate of three acres per day, and was 
merely intended to prepare the land for the scarifiers, “ which, by pass¬ 
ing twice across these furrows, loosen all the stubble and roots of weeds, 
which are afterwards, with a small portion of tTfe soil', placed in heaps 
and burned.” By these means, together with the more frequent repeti¬ 
tion of the horse-hoeing, and the introduction 6f the row culture, the 
General assures us “that his lands were rendered much cleaner, and 
yielded belter crops than they did formerly, after all the heavy expenses 
of lime and fallows.”* He indeed, states, that these operations produced 
the effect of pulverization to the depth of six or seven inches, and their 
expense was— 
Five scarifyings, with a single-horse implement, ) s. d. 
at Is. 8 d per acre...) 8 4 
Two harrowings, at 10 \d . 1 9 s. d. 
- 10 1 
that the whole charge of cultivation, under a four-course system upon this 
plan, including rent was— 
£ s. d. 
Tares, beans, pease, &c. per acre. 5 0 0 
Wheat,. “ . 5 0 0 
Oats and barley,.... “ ...... 3 13 6 
Clover and rye-grass, “ . 2 15 0 
- 16 8 6 
thus only amounting to a trifle more than that of the fallow upon the 
former plan; that land cultivated upon his farm in this manner has yield¬ 
ed 460 sheaves of wheat per acre, whilst the average produce of the other 
fields did not exceed 360; and that the difference in favor of the new 
method amounts, upon an average— when wheat is at 10s. the bushel— 
to £350 per annum upon the cultivation of 100 acres — British Hush. 
OUTLINE OF THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF HORTICULTURE. 
BY JOHN BINDLEY, F. R. S., &C. &C. 
( Continued from page 92.) 
VI. FLOWERS. 
146. Flowers consist of two principal parts, viz: floral envelopes (149.) 
and sexes (VII.) 
147. Of these, the former constitute what is .popularly considered the 
flower; although the latter are the only parts that are absolutely essential 
to it. 
148. However different they may be in appearance from leaves, they 
are all formed of those organs in a more or less modified state, and altered 
in a greater or less degree by mutual adhesion. 
149. The floral envelopes consist of two or more whorls of transformed 
leaves; of which part is calyx, its leaves being called sepals, and part co¬ 
rolla, its leaves being called petals. 
150. The sexes are also transformed leaves. (187.) 
151. Thecalyx is always the outermost, the corolla is always the inner¬ 
most whorls; and if there is but one floral envelope, that one is.calyx. 
152. Usually the calyx is green, and the corolla colored and more high¬ 
ly developed; but the reverse is frequently the case, as in Fuchsia, Ribes 
sanguineum, &c. 
153. A flower being, then, an axis surrounded by leaves, it is in reality 
* On this subject he also observes, that "those who plough deep, and bury 
the seeds of weeds by the first ploughing, are not aware that, by this outset 
of their fallow, they lay the foundation of a great deal of labor and mischief, 
and bring upon themselves the absolute necessity of a fallow, as the only 
means of eradicating the progeny of those seeds which they have inadvertent¬ 
ly deposited deep in the soil. Now, if the whole of the stubble and its roots, 
with a small portion of the surface soil, which must contain those seeds, be col¬ 
lected and destroyed by fire, it is reasonable to suppose that lands might be as 
effectually cleared of weeds in this manner, as by a summer fallow; besides 
they would have the benefit of a considerable portion ofashes. Perhaps, also, 
this mode of burning might have a tendency to prevent the disorders of smut 
and blight; disorders with which my crops have not been in the smallest de¬ 
gree affected.”—2d edit. p. 90. 
a stunted branch; that is, one the growth of which is checked and its 
power of elongation destroyed. 
154. That flowers are stunted branches is proved, firstly, by all their 
parts, especially the most external, occasionally reverting to the state of 
ordinary leaves; secondly, by their parts being often transformed into 
each other; and, thirdly, by the whorls of flower-buds being dislocated 
and actually converted into branches whenever any thing occurs to -sti¬ 
mulate them excessively. 
155. Their most essential distinctive character consists in the buds at 
the axillse of their leaves being usually dormant, white those in the axillae 
of ordinary leaves are usually active. 
156. For this reason while leaf-buds can be used for the purpose of pro¬ 
pagation, flower-buds cannot usually be so employed. 
157. Being stunted branches, their position on the stem is the same as 
that of developed branches. 
158. And as there is in all plants a very great difference in the deve- 
lopement of leaf-buds, some growing readily into branches, others only 
unfolding their leaves without elongating, and many remaining altogether 
dormant, it follows that flower-buds may form upon plants of whatever 
age and in whatever state. 
159. But to produce a genera! formation of flower-buds it is necessary 
that there should be some general predisposing constitutional cause, inde¬ 
pendent of accidental circumstances. 
160. This predisposing cause is the accumulation of sap and of secreted 
matter. 
161. Therefore whatever tends to retard the free flow of sap, and cau¬ 
ses it to accumulate, will cause the production of flower-buds or fertility. 
162. And on the other hand, whatever tends to produce excessive vi¬ 
gor causes the dispersion of sap, or prevents its elaboration and causes 
sterility. 
163. Transplantation with a partial destruction of roots, age, or high 
temperature accompanied by a dry atmosphere, training obliquely or in 
an inverted direction, a constant destruction of the extremities of young 
growing branches, will all cause an accumulation of sap, and secretions; 
and consequently all such circumstances are favofable to the production 
of flower buds. 
164. But a richly manured soil; high temperature, with great atmos¬ 
pheric humidity, or an uninterrupted flow of sap, are all causes of exces¬ 
sive vigor, and are consequently unfavorable to the production of flower- 
buds. 
165. There is a tendency in many flowers to enlarge, to alter their co¬ 
lors, or to change their appearance by a transformation and multiplication 
of their part?, whenever they have been raised from seeds for several ge¬ 
nerations, or domesticated. 
166. The causes of this tendency are probably various, but being en¬ 
tirely unknown, no certain rules for the production of varieties in flowers 
can be laid down, except by the aid of hybridising (210.) 
167. It often happens that a single branch produces flowers different 
from those produced on other branches This is technically called a 
sport. 
168. As every bud on that branch has the same specific vital principle, 
(113.) a bud taken from such a branch will produce an individual, the 
whole of whose branches will retain the character of the sport. 
169. Consequently, by buds an accidental variety may be made perma¬ 
nent, if the plant that sports be of a firm woody nature. (98.) 
170. As flowers feed upon the prepared sap in their vicinity, the great¬ 
er the abundance<of this prepared food, the more perfect will be their de- 
velopement 
171. Or the fewer the flowers on a given branch the more food they 
will severally have to nourish them, and the more perfect will they be. 
172. The beauty of flowers will therefore be increased either by an 
abundant supply of food, or by a diminution of their numbers, (thinning) 
or by both. The business'of the pruner is to cause' these by his opera¬ 
tions. 
173. The beauty of flowers depends upon their free exposure to light 
and air, because it consists in the richness of their colors, and their colors 
are only formed by the action of those two agents. (281.) 
174. Hence flowers produced in dark or shady confined situations are 
either imperfect, or destitute of their habitual size and beauty. 
175. Double flowers are those in which the st&mens are transformed 
into petals; or in which the latter, or the sepals, are multiplied. They 
should not be confounded v/hh proliferous, (183.) and discoid compound 
flowers, (184.) 
176. Although no certain rules for the production of double flowers can 
be laid down, yet it is probable that those flowers have the greatest ten¬ 
dency to become double, in which the sexes are habitually multiplied. 
177. In icosandrous and polyandrous plants either the stamens or-the 
pistilla are always very numerous when the flowers are in a natural state; 
and it is chiefly in such plants that double flowers occur, when they be¬ 
come transformed. 
17S It is therefore in such plants that double flowers are to be princi¬ 
pally expected. 
